So now we are talking about profit margins being bad?

We have the internet now, with plenty of other vendors willing to sell eyeglass frames and lenses for cheaper.

Profit margins that make a price more than double are pretty bad, yeah.

High profit margins are also bad when it's something people need.

The competition isn't working right, for a variety of reasons, and so the mere existence of competition does not make those problems disappear.

How is the competition not working right?

https://www.zennioptical.com/

Pretty sure you can go to most Walmarts and find much cheaper corrective eyewear than Luxxotica too.

https://www.walmart.com/browse/health-medicine/prescription-...

The average person doesn't consider them to be a viable option. Don't ask me why, but it's true. And them being considered a viable option is a prerequisite to competition working right.

The average person (at least in the US) does not consider the world’s largest retailer, with a well known reputation for being the cheapest, an option? I don’t buy that.

That WalMart link is to decorative glasses, not prescription glasses.

So here's the thing with WalMart and Luxottica - their insurance does not fully cover WalMart! They give you a significantly reduced amount with WalMart (or Costco), that's how you know it's fraudulent - they only want to cover their own stores, that's not a normal behavior for "insurance".

Perhaps these are better sources.

https://www.cleverdude.com/content/costco-optical-vs-walmart...

https://clark.com/health-health-care/costco-optical-eyeglass...